Purpose

Apologies to all, for the delay in updating my blog. The last couple of weeks of school are called “dead week” for a reason I suppose. As I am typing this blog, I am in the middle of putting together my creative writing poetry portfolio. And as all five poems I submitted to the ‘A’ earlier in the semester were rejected, I am feeling a little annoyed.

For me, art has always had to have purpose. There is such a thing as just a “pretty picture” or a “pretty poem”, but to me, it isn’t worth a whole lot unless there is some meaning somewhere; be it in the mind of the creator or in the perception of the viewer. What is interesting to me, is how utterly SUBJECTIVE, it all is. The thoughts of one person, the feelings put down on a page, are so easily dismissed as “overly sentimental” or “too dark”, for an opposite example. Powerful phrases are considered “too much”. What one editor sees as an abstract beginning, another loves for it’s sonic intentions. But I would say; to heck with it all! Does it have PURPOSE??? Do you see that which the author is trying so desperately to communicate? Do you understand the depth of the heart that has penned those words?

Don’t get me wrong, I think that writing needs revision. I think that a piece needs to be edited for maximum communicability. However, I must say that it is hard to receive back that chunk of your heart with notes scrawled all over it about it being “too sentimental” and “not realistic”. What is real? Whatever is in your heart. OH NO! I USED THE WORD HEART! HOW CLICHE OF ME! (I am speaking tongue in cheek of course.)

You get the point. Just feeling a little arrgh. (It’s a blog so I can use words like that right?) But the good news is that God has placed all that He has placed in my heart for a reason, and He will ultimately use that for His purpose, whether it be in the academic writing community, whether it be in the publishing of my own book of vignettes and poems, whether it be submitting my work to a Christian magazine. I know that someone out there will read them, and someone out there will be touched by their purpose.

About Me

Hello! I’m Gracie. I am a wife, a mama, and a follower of King Jesus. I love my garden and my goats and all things #homesteadyish. I love being a small-home maker, because small houses take less time to clean, and that means I have more time to spend on my tiny farm of a backyard. I love the flexibility of being a stay at home Mommy & Writer. As a general rule, if I'm too busy to make jam, then I'm too busy. This to me says, I value a full life, but not a full calendar, and I love to take life in season. Farm/Garden to table cooking is my absolute favorite, and I don't mind a little dirt under my fingernails. There's nothing better than a harvest; literally and figuratively.
And that's why I'm here, to encourage you to cultivate a fruitful life; whatever that looks like for you with your gifts, in your season, for the Glory of the God who loves you and made you. Won't you come along with me? I promise, we'll walk slowly.